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Chapter 21 Chekhov 契诃夫
Anton Chekhov （1860-1904）
·Russian writer, who brought both the short story and the drama to new prominence卓越in Russia and eventually in the Western world.
·One of 3 greatest short story writers
·"Medicine is my lawful wife", he once said, "and literature is my mistress情妇."
His life & works：
Born in the small aport of Taganrog, Ukraine乌克兰on January 17th in the year 1860.
He was the grandson of a rf农奴who had bought his freedom.
Father, owner of a grocer杂货店.
太极的含义He lived an unhappy life in his childhood
● Chekhov spent his early years under the shadow of his father's religious fanaticism 狂热while working long hours in his store.
● Chekhov‘s mother was an excellent storyteller讲故事的人who entertained the children with tales of her travels all over Russia before she had married.
● "Our talents we got from our father, but our soul from our mother."
His education：
● Chekhov attended a school for Greek boys in his hometown.
● Later, his father went bankrupt. In order to avoid the debtor's prison, the family fled to Moscow, Chekhov's mother physically and emotionally broken.
The family moved to Moscow.
Chekhov, only 16 at the time, decided to remain in his hometown and supported himlf by tutoring as he continued his schooling for 3 more years.
He tried various kinds of jobs
● Tutor.家庭教师
● He began to write humorous short stories.
In 1879 he entered the University of Moscow to study medicine.
● It was from this time that Chekhov began to publish comic short stories and ud the money to support himlf and his family.
● His early stories ironically satirized讽刺the rvile奴隶的 character of the people
● The Death of a Government Clerk《一个文官的死》(1883)
Ivan, sneeze喷嚏; spatter溅on the bald秃头head of a general,
the high political pressure政治压力of Tzarist Russia.
● A Chameleon《变色龙》(1884)
Otchumyelov, A police officer’s double sides: flattery奉承and terrible
He developed his ability to say a great deal in a few words.
At the same time, he began to explore rious themes that figure in his later work, such as human isolation隔离and the difficulty of communication.
In 1884 Chekhov became a doctor. Around this year, he found himlf coughing blood (tuberculosis).肺结核
Meanwhile, he continued to write.
Chekhov was awarded the Pushkin Prize in 1888. "for the best literary production distinguished by high artistic worth"
His travel in 1890
● Chekhov made an arduous努力的9650-km journey across Siberia by train, river steamer, and hor-drawn carriage to conduct a sociological and medical survey in a Rus
sian penal colony流放地on Sakhalin Island库页岛, off the eastern coast of Russia. 粉瘤是怎么形成的
A Journey To Sakhalin 库页岛is an amazing document.
● “Hell Island!”
● This book had some influence in moderating the harsh严厉的prison rule on the island.
Around the year 1890, Chekhov moved toward publishing longer, more rious and more technically accomplished stories.
● Ward No. 6 (1892)《第六病室》
mental patients
Doctor Andrey Yefimitch 拉京
The door keeper Nikita 尼基达怎么腌咸菜
The story deals with the percution to the common people
and the conquences of indifference to human suffering.
● A Man in a Ca (1898)《套中人》
Byelikov “I hope it won't lead to anything!”
The story satirized讽刺the old tradition and autocratic专制的government.
He also wrote plays戏剧：
In his dramatic works Chekhov sought to convey the texture本质of everyday life, moving away from traditional ideas of plot情节and conventions惯例of dramatic speech.
The major theme in Anton Chekhov's plays：
● the psychologically bitterness苦难、怨恨of the Russian intellectuals知识分子
● The Seagull《海鸥》（1896）Three artists’ unfortunate fate.
写荷花的诗句● Uncle Vanya《万尼亚舅舅》（1899）happensThe embodiment体现of the Russian intellectu
als’ unfortunate fate
● Three Sisters《三姐妹》（阳刚的名字1901）Three kind-hearted intellectual sisters and their helpless waiting
The three sisters never realized their dream to go to Moscow (a major symbolic element).
The Cherry Orchard《樱桃园》（1904） 法华山is his last drama works
● The play concerns an aristocratic Russian woman and her family as they return to the family's estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned拍卖to pay the debt.
the passing away of the old, aristocratic Russia
Lopakhin, the former rf, who becoming an upstart暴发户, rich and powerful but rude and violent.
Lopakhin had all the trees cut down, …
